Canonical Announce Major Ubuntu Kernel Change
omgubuntu.co.uk
Canonical’s announced a major shift in its kernel selection process for future Ubuntu releases. An “aggressive kernel version commitment policy” pivot will see it ship the latest upstream kernel code in development at the time of a new Ubuntu release.
Original announcement: Kernel Version Selection for Ubuntu Releases
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I'm surprised by this decision, since Ubuntu's strength is stability and by extension, friendliness to new users. Imo, a better move would be to ship a separate "unstable" release with non-LTS kernels.
Maybe stability is not a frequent issue nowadays, and they need the new kernel to support new hardware more quickly?
E.g. I can imagine a new linux friendly laptop can't be sold with ubuntu preinstalled because the old kernel is not supporting some parts yet, but it's already merged upstream. Or something like that.
The announcement has some wording on treating LTS releases differently. My guess is they'll be more aggressive on non-LTS releases and less aggressive in LTS, in order to preserve stability for LTS. Besides, non-LTS releases have been decidedly unstable for a while now, especially after the move to shorten their support lifespan. And it makes sense. They more or less serve as testing releases for the next LTS. Point being that whoever wants stability uses LTS anyway and they're likely to adjust the new kernel selection process to keep that stability.